Single cylinder fluid-actuated log turner



Oct. 13, 1953 D. C. RICHARDSON SINGLE CYLINDER FLUID-ACTUATED LOG TURNER Filed March 10,.l 195o 2 Sheets-Sheet l Oll U/VDR PRESS (IRE A BY Oct. 13, 1953 D. c. RICHARDSON 2,655,185

SINGLE CYLINDER FLUID-ACTUATED Loc TURNER Filed March 1o, 195o EJE. E l

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ITU" I N VEN TOR. luv C. ffm/,460 50m Therpresnt inventifmrelates` tbicg'fturersr the-type commonly referred to ni'g'gers. and more particularly has reference -to'apower opierated nigger which is simple in structural de#V thereis not a suflicient space beneath the' il'co'r to accommodate the assembly'and `this'ncessi-v tates the digging of a well vor the like which is a laborious and expensive process. Additional# ly, in connection Awith portable mills, it is not feasible to make use of the power niggers, since the expense of digging the well would, in the majority of instances, not be warranted for the particular sawing operations. Accordingly, an object of my invention is to provide a power operated nigger which may be easily employed with either va fixed mill or a portable mill and which may be installed without the necessity of digging a well or providing any substantial supporting surface for the nigger and which may be placed in operative position in a minimum/ottime and without the services of skilled workmen.

Yet a further object of my inventionvis toA pro'- vide a power operated log turner or nigger wherein the power cylinder and the nigger bar are mounted on a supporting assembly in substantially parallel relationship with the piston rod ofthe power cylinder being pivotally connected to the nigger bar intermediate the/endsA of the bar and the supporting assembly in its entirety being adapted to be mounted to the floor of the mill. And yet a further object of the rpresentinvention is to provide a power operated nigger of the character described wherein the supporting assembly is suspended, so to speak, beneath the mill oor and does not require the use of a stable supporting base. t, And still another object of my invention is'to provide a power operated nigger wherein a pair of parallel power cylinders are supported on'opposite sides of the nigger bar, the piston rods of the respective cylinders being pivotally mounted to the bar intermediate the upper and lower ends of the bar. To achieve the above andv other objects; the'irf- Venton broadly comprises a stable' supporting 1 arson, Ill. 1f; l 'Apmatiii i0, lssgdfseriaiit. 1148.179@

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unit vincluding "a pir-"cf spaced apartfhorizofntal members;the upper v,one rof which is of greater length than the lower, "and1means to rigidly support theihorizontalY members in spaced relation, which means also functions/ as a guideufqrjinsuring vertical sliding movement pof vthenigger bar." A diagonal brace extendsbetween thejhorf zontal members and limits the extent of theoscillating movement rof; the: jnigger 'barp when 'the baris'in thedeck, and a` power cylinder is" pivotally connectedvto the' lowermost lio rizonta`l sup-` 'port and thejpiston rod thereofw is pivotallyattached to the nigger Vbar intermediate thejlength ofthebar, the pivotal'connectionbeingat a position `which;` will bebelow themill iloor when the bar is in thehole. .A'source of `fluid under p ressure is in communication wit-h the interior of th'ehcylinder at points above and below the: piston, and valve means provided with a control lever cn thev millfloor"is`pero videcl"l tocontrolhlthe aclmission of the fluid into 'fthe power` cylinder. j :The A'supporting ,unitgand its associated mem.- bers is vadapted 'to `bedropped'through an elongated openingin'themill"floor, preferably adja- .g cent the log deck and is 1'secured to the flocrby suitable fasteningmeans. e y v j s "Vifithv the foregoingI an dotl1 .er''objectsV in view, the invention consists inthe' details of construction, and in the arrangement and combination of partsV tobe hereinafter/more fully set forth and clame ,g s 7, In describing the'invention in detail, reference will be yhad to the accpmpanyingdrawings form#-v ing part of this application, whereinlike charv acters denote. corresponding Peris in theseveral Views; enclin which: A s FigureA 1 'isa ,View in'/Siflelevation, partly in section. V" of Athe preferred'embodiment Aof -my invention, the nigger barbe'ing shown out of the hole.. Y ,.v n

f igure 2 is a v'i'w in :side elevation, partly in section,Vsh'owir'igY the'pos'ition ofV the nigger bar under the deck.- f

alongv the` unen-4 j Figures is a 'sectionaiview taken along 'the une .being taken inf the direction acadien Referring to Figure 1, I have identified the floor of the sawmill I0, Il is a log carriage of conventional type riding on rails I2, I3 is a log deck, and I4 indicates generally my novel power operated nigger.

The nigger I4 comprises a horizontally extending upper member l5 which, as shown in Figure 3, includes a pair of longitudinally extending spaced angle irons I6, the rearmost ends of the irons being fast connected by a transversely extending angle iron I1, while the opposite or front ends of the irons are attached to a plate I8. The union between the irons I6, l1 and the plate I8 may be by welding or some other suitable securing processes. A pair of spaced downwardly extending channel bars I9 are suitably connected to the horizontal flange of the irons I6 adjacent to the front plate I8, and the lower ends of the channel bars are conveniently attached to a horizontaliplate and, as shown in Figure l, the plate 20 is of considerably less length than the angle virons I6. Another channel bar 2I is attached at its upper end to the horizontal fiange of the angle iron I1 and at its lower end adjacent the rear end of the plate 28 forreinforcing purposes and also for serving as a stop for a nigger bar 22 when the bar is under the deck.

'I'.he nigger bar 22 comprises a pair of spaced plates 23 between which a plurality of dogs 24 are pivotally attached, as indicated at 25, and pins 26 extending transversely of the bar serve to limit the downward pivotal movement of the dogs. The lower ends o f the plates 23 are provided with a solid metal block 21 which is welded to the plates and is provided with a plurality of opposed L-shaped members 28 which are adapted to embrace outer flange 29 of a rail section 38 which is secured to and extends longitudinally of the web of each channel bar I9 (Figures 4 and 5) to function as a guide for the nigger bar 22. It can be seen that there is suiiicient clearance between the L-shaped members 28 and the flange 29 to permit suiicient angular movement of the bar to assume its under the deck position (Figure 2).

A rubber or other resilient block 3l is located on the plate 20 beneath the bar 22 to absorb the shock imparted by the bar 22 when the bar is in its lowermost or in the hole position. Similarly, a wooden block 32 is secured between the flanges of the channel bar 2| in proximity to the upper end of the bar to take up the shock when the nigger bar 22 is moved to the position illustrated in Figure 2.

In order to operate the bar 22, a cylinder 33 is pivoted to spaced ears 34 on the plate 28 by means of a pin or the like 35 and piston rod 3S for piston 31 is pivotally secured to a pair of ears 38 welded to the plates 23 by a pivot pin 39. rPhe ears 38 are located on the plates 23 at a point intermediate the ends of the nigger bar. Ports 40 and 4I are provided in the cylinder on opposite sides of the piston 31, preferably near the upper and lower ends of the cylinder 33, and conduits 42 and 43 are connected to the ports 40 and 4i, respectively. The conduits 42 and 43 lead tc a four-way valve 44 to which oil is supplied through a line 45, and the valve 44 is controlled by meansI of a lever 46 on the door I0 at the desired location, the lever being connected to the valve through member 41. The valve 44 may be located at any strategic point with respect to the mill.

To install the assembly I4, the floor I0 is formed with an elongated slot 48, preferably adjacent to the log deck I3, and the slot conforms substantially to the distance between the vertical flanges of the angle irons I6. The unit in its entirety is then dropped through the slot 48 and the horizontal flanges of the angles I6 and the rear angle iron I1 will rest on the door I0. Suitable securing means such as bolts or the like may be inserted through spaced openings in the horizontal flanges and the floor to anchor the assembly to the floor. Hence, it can be seen that the nigger may be very easily and quickly installed. in the mill or removed from the mill, if necessary. By virtue of the relationship of the power cylinder 33 relative to the nigger bar 22, it is unnecessary that the bar be of any substantial length and the overall dimensions of the assembly will enable it to be installed in the majority of fixed and portable mills without any material modification of the mill structure or the necessity of digging a well or pit below the nigger. In certain types of portable mills where the floor is very close to the ground surface, it may be necessary to dig a comparatively shallow pit to accommodate the assembly. However, experience has demonstrated that rarely is this pit more than two feet in depth.

The elimination of the well or pit is a very desirable feature since the pits often become filled with debris from the sawing processes as well as water, and hence, frequently require cleaning. This not only is a very time consuming process, but most expensive, and by virtue of the mode of attachment of the present nigger to either the fixed or portable mill, the pit or well is unnecessary.

In view of the fact that the operation of the nigger bar will be readily apparent to one skilled in the art, it is not deemed necessary to describe in detail the manner in which the nigger is em` ployed. However, it vcan be seen that by manipulation of the control lever, the fluid can be admitted to the lower end of the cylinder to raise the nigger upwardly out of the hole and the nigger can be hel-d in any desired position by the operator. By admitting fluid into the upper end of the cylinder, the nigger bar can, of course, be moved to a position under the deck by reason of the pivotal mounting of the power cylinder to the horizontal plate 20.

It will be appreciated, therefore, that the log turner includes few essential working parts and is very sturdily constructed. The unit by reason of its suspended support beneath the door of the mill is readily accessible for servicing and maintenance and in the event it has to be removed from the mill, this can be very simply and relatively inexpensively accomplished.

In certain sawing operations such as quarter sawing, I find that the power operated assembly illustrated in Figure 6 is particularly effective in that one-half of the log upon which it is not desired to work can be moved onto the log deck. In view of the similarity between this unit and the principal embodiment, the same reference characters are applied to the corresponding parts. However, in this unit it will be noted that the lower horizontal plate 20 extends beyond the channel bars I9 as indicated at 50 and a power cylinder 5I is pivoted to the extension 58 as shown at 52. The cylinder, of course, is provided with a piston and piston rod 54 is pivotally mounted at its free end to spaced ears 55 as denoted at 56 and the ears 55 are opposite theears or lugs 38. VLines or conduits 51 and 58 communicate with the interior of the cylinder 5| near the upper and lower ends, respectively, and the opposite ends of these lines are operatively connected to the valve structure 44.

In view of the fact that the ears 55 will be above the floor when the nigger bar is out of the hole, it is necessary that the plate i8 secured to the front ends of the angles I6 be modied somewhat. The desired results may be achieved by welding a plate to each angle iron and the inner ends of the plates will be spaced apart to provide a slot or opening of sufficient size to permit the piston rod 54 to extend therethrough. Manifestly, by manipulation of the control lever, the cylinder 5l may be utilized to move or slap onehalf of the log back onto the deck for subsequent processing.

It can be seen that the nigger bar when standing in the hole at its forward position will be out of the way when the log is traveling into the saw. Additionally, when the bar is back in the deck, it will be in the hole suiiiciently to permit the logs to pass or roll over the bar wit-hout striking the bar in the idle position.

In the event the log turner is to be set on the ground, a skid can Abe disposed underneath each of the angle irons I6 and the irons bolted to the skids.

While AI have specically referred to oil as the medium for operating the power cylinders, it is, of course, understood that steam, air, or other fluids may be employed in lieu thereof.

The invention is not to be confined to any strict conformity with the showing in the drawings, but may be changed or modified so long as such changes or modifications mark no material departure from the salient features of the invention as expressed in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a log turner for sawmills, a pair of spaced horizontal angle irons, means secured to the front and rear ends of the angle irons for maintaining the angle irons in spaced relationship, further means for attaching said angle irons above an opening formed in the sawmill floor, a pair of spaced downwardly extending channel bars secured to said angle irons adjacent the front ends of the angle irons extending downwardly through the floor opening, a plate attached to the lower ends of the channel bars, said plate being of lesser length than the angle irons, a brace secured at one end to the rear of the angle irons and extending downwardly through the opening in the oor, means securing the opposite end of the brace to the plate, a track on said spaced channel bars, a nigger bar sildably and oscillatably mounted on said track, a cylinder pivotally connected to said plate and disposed in spaced relation to the nigger bar, a pivotal connection between the cylinder piston rod and the nigger bar intermediate the ends of the nigger bar, valve means to admit fluid into the cylinder, and a control lever operatively connected with said valve to operate said valve.

2. In a log turner as claimed in claim 1 wherein a resilient block is mounted on said plate below said nigger bar to absorb the shock of the nigger bar.

3. In a hydraulic log turner for sawmills, a pair of spaced horizontal angle irons, means attached to the front and rear ends of the angle irons to maintain the said irons in spaced relation to form an elongated slot therebetween, further means securing the said irons above an opening in the sawmill floor with the slot in communication with the opening, a pair of spaced downwardly extending rail members secured to the angle irons adjacent the front ends of the irons extending downwardly through the slot and opening, a base plate attached to the lower ends of the rail members, a brace aflixed to the plate in spaced relationship to the rail members and extending upwardly from the base plate, means securing the free end of the brace to the rear of the angle irons, a nigger bar, complemental means on the nigger bar and the rail members whereby the bar is guided on the rail members for sliding and oscillating movement, a cylinder pivotally connected to the base plate for movement about a horizontal axis, the pivot connection being in spaced relation to the said nigger bar, a pivot connection between the piston rod in the cylinder and the nigger bar in proximity to the upper end of the said bar, a source of fluid, conduits between the fluid source and the cylinder, valve means interposed in the conduits to control the iiuid flow to and from the cylinder, and a control means to actuate the valve means operatively connected to the valve means.

DOW C. RICHARDSON.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Re. 5,487 Tarrant July 15, 1873 131,956 Hunter I Oct. 8, 1872 326,280 Evered Sept. 15, 1885 379,086 Torrent Mar. 6, 1888 691,517 Wilkn Jan. 21, 1902 743,247 Cleveland Nov. 3, 1903 886,918 Arthur May 5, 1908 913,640 Gillard Feb. 23, 1909 1,842,114 Pratt Jan. 19, 1932 2,530,683 Danzer NOV. 21, 1950 

